65 Sharp Street
Hingham, MA 02043
United States
Copley Fine Art Auctions is the world's leading American sporting art auction company. Located in Hingham, MA, Copley specializes in antique decoys and 19th- and 20th-century American, sporting, and wildlife paintings. Principal Stephen O'Brien Jr., a fourth-generation sportsman with a refined colle...Read more
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Jul 28, 2017 - Jul 29, 2017
Lots 157- 163 are part of The Barrie and Bernice Stavis Collection of Mark McNair Decoys
Barrie Stavis (1906-2007) was a distinguished American playwright who dedicated his career to addressing fundamental issues of the human condition. Stavis’s works, viewed by millions worldwide, have been translated into over 28 languages and produced by dozens of major theaters around the world as well as numerous universities. Bernice Coe, or BC Stavis, (1919-2001) also had a very accomplished career as a pioneering executive in the film and television industry. Barrie and Bernice shared many loves, including sailing on their treasured wooden sailboat which was moored in Long Island, a place they shared another love, the hunt for decoys.
“It started with a letter, which is appropriate enough for a man of letters. Barrie had discovered one of my pintails at a show on Long Island around 1977. His letter so intrigued me that I responded and thus began a relationship that lasted over thirty years. He was mentor, patron, antagonist, muse, pal, helper, counselor, but most of all friend in the truest sense of the word. For this I’ll always be grateful. He liked to close with, “Be well, do good work, and don’t forget to write.” –Mark McNair
Two important McNair-Stavis decoys currently reside at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.
Eider Drake
Mark S. McNair (b. 1950)
Craddockville, VA, 1986
16 in. long
"BARRIE - THIS WAS A BIRD I KEPT FOR MYSELF. IT HAS GONE HUNTING, BUT HAS LIVED MOST OF ITS LIFE IN MY KITCHEN.
Mark 1994" is written on the underside.
Incised "McNAIR 1986."
Original paint with minor gunning wear.
Provenance: The Barrie and Bernice Stavis Collection
Original paint with minor gunning wear.
Condition report requests can be made via email or by telephone (info@copleyart.com or 617.536.0030). Any condition statement given is a courtesy to customers, Copley will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition.
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